Workers are worried about AI on the job, study shows
Workers are worried about AI on the job, study shows
Lately, we’ve heard a whole lot about artificial intelligence. Seems like every day there’s a rush of press releases and articles promising that AI will revolutionize how new drugs are tested, triage customer service calls or organize supply chains.
But the warnings are loud, too: that it’ll be used to write college admissions essays, or reproduce actor’s voices, or take over jobs done by humans.
Much of that is still speculative. AI’s still in its infancy, or maybe we should say early childhood. Meanwhile, American workers are developing opinions about how AI could impact them, and mostly what they’re doing is worrying about it.
Seven in 10 U.S. workers say they’re “very” or “somewhat” concerned about employers using AI in human resources decision-making; 3 in 10 are worried about their job being eliminated by AI. Those findings are from a new report by Rutgers University’s Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, which has been surveying Americans for decades about the impact of new technology.
Workers are most worried about AI’s role in hiring, firing, performance evaluation and promotion, said Carl Van Horn, the center’s director. “A concern about the hidden hand out there. That I’m not going to get a chance to really discuss my virtues with the hiring officer or with my boss, instead there’ll be some algorithm that tells me whether I stay or go.”
Lower-income and minority workers are the most worried, Van Horn said.
“They’re more vulnerable in general, they often hold precarious jobs in the first place,” he said. “And so any disruption, they feel, ‘I’m also going to be harmed by that.’”
So far, most Americans just know AI from news coverage or playing with apps like ChatGPT rather than using it at work, said Chris Jackson at polling firm Ipsos.
“Not a lot of people actually have direct first-hand experience with it, so what we’re actually seeing is people’s views of the economic system writ large,” he said. “So if people think the system is rigged, they think the system’s unfair, they think AI is just going to add to that.”
So that’s workers. What about the folks who will be making decisions about AI?
The Conference Board recently asked global business leaders about their top economic concerns.
“The first two were recession-slash-downturn and inflation,” said Dana Peterson, The Conference Board’s chief economist. “The third one was rapidly advancing AI technology.”
Most CEOs see it as an opportunity to increase worker productivity and sales, she said. But do they think it will let them employ fewer workers?
“They were kind of divided on it,” Peterson said. “Fifty-two percent felt that it might displace labor.”
Meaning 48% think AI won’t eliminate jobs.
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